Construction

and Building

Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 539545

MATERIALS
www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Inuence of nano-SiO2 addition on properties of hardened cement

paste as compared with silica fume
a,b,*
Ye Qing , Zhang Zenan c, Kong Deyu a, Chen Rongshen a

a
College of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 310014 Hangzhou, PR China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Quzhou College, 324006 Quzhou, PR China
c
Department of Physics, Zhejiang University of Technology, 310014 Hangzhou, PR China

Received 4 March 2005; received in revised form 5 September 2005; accepted 7 September 2005
Available online 24 October 2005

Abstract

The inuence of nano-SiO2 (NS) addition on properties of hardened cement paste (hcp) as compared with silica fume (SF) has been
studied through measurement of compressive and bond strengths of hcp, and by XRD and SEM analysis. Results indicated that the
inuence of NS and SF on consistency and setting time of fresh cement paste showed dierent. NS made cement paste thicker and
NS accelerated the cement hydration process. Compressive strengths of hcp and bond strengths of pasteaggregate interface incorporat-
ing NS were obviously higher than those incorporating SF, especially at early ages. And with increasing the NS content, the rate of bond
strength increase was more than that of their compressive strength increase. With 3% NS added, NS digested calcium hydroxide (CH)
crystals, decreased the orientation of CH crystals, reduced the crystal size of CH gathered at the interface and improved the interface
more eectively than SF. The results suggest that with a small amount of added NS, the CH crystals at the interface between hcp
and aggregate at early ages may be eectively absorbed in high performance concrete (HPC).
 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Hardened cement paste; Interface; Nano-SiO2; Mechanical property; Silica fume

1. Introduction belongs to the category of highly pozzolanic materials be-

In this new century, the technology of nano-structured
material is developing at an astonishing speed and will be
applied extensively with many materials. Although cement
is a common building material, its main hydrate CSH gel
is a natural nano-structured material [15].
The durability and mechanical properties of HPC are
mainly dependent on the gradually rening structure of
hcp and the gradually improving pasteaggregate interface
incorporating additions and admixtures. Many researchers
have applied slag, y-ash and silica fume (SF) to improving
cement-based materials, and have achieved great successes,
such as HPC and reactive powder concrete and so on. SF
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 571 85816061; fax: +86 571
88320124.
E-mail address: zjutyeqing@163.com (Q. Ye).
cause it consists essentially of silica in non-crystalline form
with a high specic surface, and thus exhibits great pozzo-
lanic activity. But the activity of SF at early ages is low
according to the literature [69]. Mitchell et al. [6] reported
that the XRD pattern of SF, put into saturated calcium
hydroxide (CH) solution, changed little up to 7 days and
extensive CSH formation had occurred after 120 days.
Li et al. [9] showed that only 75% of SF was consumed
in a cement paste after 90 days of hydration.
The aggregatepaste interface is regarded as the most
sensitive area within the structure of concrete, where a
number of defects exist and the concrete failure process
commences easily. Through SEM and XRD examinations
of the interfacial transition zone in pastes cast against glass
slides, Barnes et al. [10] and Grandet and Ollivier [11] re-
ported the occurrence of duplex lms, comprising a layer
of CH crystals in contact with the glass and oriented with

0950-0618/$ - see front matter  2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2005.09.001
540 Q. Ye et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 539545

their c-axes normal to its surface, and a layer of CSH
further out into the paste. With additions of pozzolanic
materials such as slag, y-ash and silica fume added, the
interface structure has been improved, especially in HPC
[1215].
In this paper, using the experience of nano-technology
in ceramics and polymer for reference, the inuence of
NS on properties of hcp was studied as compared with sil-
ica fume, in order to improve the microstructure of hcp,
thus to enhance the durability and mechanical properties
of cement-based materials. Furthermore, for HPC contain-
ing SF or y-ash or slag, with the addition of 13% NS, we
hope to produce a new high performance concrete with
much better properties.
2. Experimental procedure
2.1. Raw materials
A commercial Chinese ordinary Portland cement (C)
(42.5 grade, Blaine specic surface 310 m2/kg) complying
with Chinese standard (GB 175) was used. Its composition
(wt%) is 81% clinker, 13% slag and 6% gypsum, and the
Bogue composition of the clinker is 56% C3S, 18% C2S,
8% C3A and 12% C4AF. Both NS and SF in this study
were commercially available undensied materials, sup-
plied by Mingri Nano-material Ltd. and Zhunyi Ferroalloy
Ltd. in China, respectively. A superplasticizer (SM) used
was a commercial sulphonated melamine formaldehyde
polymer (liquid solution, water content 70%) with special
gravity 1.2 g/cm3 and water reduction up to 20%. Tap
water (W) was used in all experiments. Chemical composi-
tions and physical properties of clinker, slag, gypsum, SF
and NS are shown in Table 1.
2.2. Experimental programs
(1) Preparation of paste specimen. Cement pastes incor-
porating NS or SF were prepared at (near) standard
consistency using a planetary mixer (ISO). For all
the pastes, a cement plus addition:water:superplasti-
cizer ratio of 1:0.22:0.025 was used, as shown in Table
2. Cement with NS or SF was fully mixed under the
condition of dry process beforehand. The mixing con-
sists of a sequence of mixings that involve a total of
2.0 min at a paddle speed of both 62 rpm (revolution)
and 140 rpm (rotation), a 15 s stop and a total of
2.0 min at a speed of both 125 rpm (revolution) and
285 rpm (rotation).
(2) Test of consistency and setting time of fresh pastes.
The consistency and the setting time of fresh pastes
were tested according to ISO 9597:1989. The consis-
tency was ascertained by putting the paste in a
mould consisting of a steel ring (40 mm in height)
on a sheet of glass and by determining the penetra-
tion depth of a plunger applied to the top surface of
the paste specimen. The initial and the nal setting
time were determined with the needle of the Vicat
apparatus.
(3) Test of paste compressive strength. The fresh paste was
cast into cubic molds (25 25 25 mm) to prepare
specimens on a vibrating table for a measurement of
compressive strength. Three cubes were tested for each
sample at the given age, by a hydraulic press with
100 kN capacity and 0.5 MPa/s loading speed. Each
strength value was an average of three specimens.
(4) Test of bond strength of pasteaggregate interface (or
paste exural strength set with glass plate). The fresh
paste was cast into square-bar moulds 40 40 160
mm on a vibrating table, and then a glass plate
(39.8 39.8 3 mm) was set into the middle of the
square-bar specimen with the plate parallel to the
bar cross-section. With ISO method for cement ex-
ural strength test for reference, three specimens were
tested for each sample at the given age. The span for
exural strength test and the compressed area for
compressive strength are 100 and 40 40 mm, respec-
tively. Namely, the bond strength is represented by
exural strength.
(5) Preparation of pasteaggregate interface specimen for
microstructure analysis. At rst, glass plate
(19.8 19.8 3 mm) was prepared, and the plate
was set into the bottom of cubic mold
(20 20 20 mm). Then the fresh paste was cast into
the cubic molds on a vibrating table.
(6) Microstructure analysis at interface. At the given age,
when glass plate was split apart between hcp and
glass, the fracture surface (interface) on hcp was ana-
lysed by XRD and SEM immediately, in order to
determine the degree of interaction between CH and

Table 1
Chemical compositions and physical properties of clinker, slag, gypsum, silica fume and nano-SiO2
Chemical composition (wt%) Physical properties
SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Average of diameter Specic surface Density Loose density
(nm) (m2/g) (g/cm3) (g/cm3)
Clinker 21.05 5.56 4.03 64.27 1.02 0.75
Slag 31.55 13.95 1.08 41.42 8.20
Gypsum 4.96 0.46 0.26 29.61 1.45 37.56
SF 92.10 2.04 1.08 0.45 0.58 0.44 180 21.5 2.22 0.21
NS 99.90 15 160 2.12 0.15
 Q. Ye et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 539545 541

Table 2
Mix proportions, compressive and bond strengths of pastes made out of cement and NS or SF
Sample Mix proportion in mass Consistencya Setting time Compressive strength (MPa) (%) Bond strength (MPa)
(mm) (%)
C NS SF W SM Initial Final Dt 1d 3d 28d 60d 7d 28d
CO 100 0 0 22 2.5 34 2h57m 4h23m 1h26m 48.9 (100) 61.1 (100) 79.2 (100) 94.9 (100) 5.1 (100) 5.8 (100)
A1 99 1 0 22 2.5 34 2h57m 4h05m 1h08m 49.2 (101) 71.6 (117) 94.7 (120) 101.6 (107) 5.9 (116) 7.3 (126)
A2 98 2 0 22 2.5 33 2h55m 3h50m 0h55m 49.8 (102) 72.6 (119) 95.8 (121) 102.5 (108) 6.2 (122) 8.3 (143)
A3 97 3 0 22 2.5 33 2h48m 3h40m 0h52m 52.0 (106) 82.2 (135) 97.6 (123) 105.8 (111) 6.6 (129) 10.0 (172)
A5 95 5 0 22 2.5 32 2h16m 3h06m 0h50m 53.0 (108) 86.1 (141) 98.8 (125) 108.8 (115) 7.3 (143) 10.9 (188)
B2 98 0 2 22 2.5 35 3h50m 4h45m 0h55m 47.5 (97) 61.0 (100) 84.2 (106) 101.5 (107) 5.2 (102) 6.3 (109)
B3 97 0 3 22 2.5 35 4h35m 5h20m 0h45m 47.3 (97) 60.4 (99) 92.0 (116) 104.3 (110) 5.0 (98) 6.7 (116)
B5 95 0 5 22 2.5 36 4h45m 5h28m 0h43m 47.0 (96) 60.0 (98) 95.3 (120) 106.9 (113) 4.9 (96) 7.1 (122)
a
Penetration depth.

NS or SF, and to observe the orientation, size and
morphology of CH crystals or other hydration prod-
ucts at the interface.
(7) Curing conditions for specimens. All paste specimens,
which were cured at (20 2) C and above 90% r.h.
moisture, were demolded after 24 h, and then stored
in water at (20 1) C.
creased with increasing the SF content. The results indicate
that the inuence of both NS and SF on consistency and
setting shows dierent, and NS makes cement paste thicker
and accelerates the cement setting process as compared
with SF.
3.3. Compressive strength of pastes

The above consistency, setting time, compressive and
bond strength tests were repeated three times.
2.3. Equipment and test conditions
X-ray diraction analyzer used is Rigaku D/Max-3B
type with the following conditions: Cu Ka radiation, tube
electric current 40 mA and tube voltage 40 kV, and scan-
ning speed 1/min. Scanning electron microscope used is
Hitachi S570 type.
3. Results
3.1. Degree of crystallinity of NS and SF
Fig. 1 shows XRD powder patterns of NS and SF. Strong
broad peaks of NS and SF were centered on 23 and 22
(2h), respectively, which was in keeping with the strong
broad peak of a characteristic of amorphous SiO2. The re-
sults show that both NS and SF are in an amorphous state.
3.2. Consistency and setting time of fresh pastes
The inuence of NS or SF addition on consistency and
setting time of fresh pastes is presented in Table 2. With
increasing the NS content, fresh pastes for sample A-series
grew thicker gradually and their penetration depths (con-
sistency value) decreased gently as compared with that of
control sample CO. While with increasing the SF content,
the pastes for sample B-series grew thinner and their depths
increased. The setting of fresh pastes (sample A-series) was
slightly accelerated but the dierence between the initial
and the nal time decreased with increasing the NS con-
tent. While the setting of fresh pastes (sample B-series)
was obviously retarded and the dierence was also de-
Table 2 also gives the variation of the compressive
strength development of hcp with NS or SF added. It is
found that all paste strengths of sample A-series were obvi-
ously higher than those of control sample CO especially at
3 days. Furthermore, with increasing the NS content, paste
strengths increased. For example, compared with sample
CO, the strengths of sample A3 increased by 6%, 35%,
23% and 11% at ages of 1 day, 3 days, 28 days and 60 days,
respectively.
However, with increasing the SF content, all paste
strengths of sample B-series were slightly lower than those
of sample CO at ages of 1 day and 3 days. But at ages of 28
days and 60 days, strengths with increasing the SF content
were obviously higher than those of sample CO, and the
strengths were slightly lower than those of sample A-series
with the same content of addition. For example, as com-
pared with sample CO, the strengths of sample B3 de-
creased by 3% and 1% at ages of 1 day and 3 days, and
increased by 16% and 10% at ages of 28 days and 60 days,
respectively.
These results show that the compressive strength of hcp
is enhanced with NS addition added, especially at early
ages, and the pozzolanic activity of NS is much greater
than that of SF.
Fig. 1. XRD powder pattern of nano-SiO2 and silica fume.
542 Q. Ye et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 539545

3.4. Bond strength of pasteaggregate interface

The variation of bond strength of pasteaggregate inter-

face made from cement and NS or SF with time is shown in
Table 2. Similarly to the compressive strengths, all bond
strengths of sample A-series were obviously higher than
those of control sample CO and than those of sample
B-series. Moreover, with increasing the NS content, the
rate of bond strength increase was more than that of their
compressive strength increase. At the ages of 7 and 28 days
bond strengths of sample A3 were, respectively, 6.6 and
10.0 MPa and were, respectively, 29% and 72% higher than
that of sample CO, and were, respectively, 32% and 49%
higher than that of sample B3. The results show that the
bond strength at the interface between aggregate and hcp
incorporating NS increases obviously and NS addition
can improve the interface structure more eectively than
SF.

3.5. Consumption of CH crystals gathered at the paste

aggregate interface

Fig. 2 shows the variation of interaction between CH

and NS or SF at the interface with time determined by
XRD pattern. The consumption of CH (crystals) content
at the interface between glass plate and paste containing
NS or SF can be demonstrated approximately by intensity
changes of main diraction peaks of CH crystals, such as
(0 0 1) crystal face, as well as (1 0 0) and (1 0 1) crystal faces
(d = 0.490, 0.310 and 0.263 nm, respectively), neglecting
the eect of orientation on the intensity. At the same ages,
diraction peak intensities of (1 0 0) and (1 0 1) crystal faces
of CH at the interface of sample A3 were almost equal to
those of sample CO, but the intensity of (0 0 1) crystal face
was much less than that of sample CO. For example, as
compared with sample CO, the intensities of (0 0 1) crystal
face at the interface of sample A3 decreased by 67%, 61%
and 64% at ages of 1 day, 7 days and 28 days, respectively.
Similarly to sample A3, intensities of (1 0 0) and (1 0 1)
crystal faces of CH at the interface of sample B3 were al-
most equal to those of sample CO, but the intensity of
(0 0 1) crystal face was less than that of sample CO. For in-
stance, as compared with sample CO, the intensities of
sample B3 decreased by 29%, 19% and 12%, respectively,
at the same above ages.
The results indicate that NS can consume more CH
crystals at the interface and can improve the interface
structure more eectively than SF.
Fig. 2. Variation of interaction between nano-SiO2 and Ca(OH)2 at the
3.6. CH orientation at the pasteaggregate interface
interface between paste and aggregate with time determined by XRD as
compared with silica fume.
The inuence of NS or SF on CH orientation at the
pasteaggregate interface can be determined by XRD pat-
tern as shown in Fig. 2. The orientation in this paper is de- and glass plate, orientation indexes of control sample CO
ned as R = 1.35I(0 0 1)/I(1 0 1), where I(0 0 1) and I(1 0 1) is were very great and were 3.9, 3.6 and 3.6 at ages of 1
(0 0 1) and (1 0 1) crystal face peak intensity, respectively, day, 7 days and 28 days, respectively, and the indexes of
and R is orientation index. At the interface between paste sample B3 were 3.4, 3.1 and 3.3. But those of sample A3
 Q. Ye et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 539545
were very small and were just 1.8, 1.6 and 1.5 at the same
above ages. The results reveal that NS can decrease the ori-
entation of CH crystals more eectively than SF.
3.7. CH micrographs at the pasteaggregate interface
The variation of SEM micrographs of CH crystals gath-
ered at the pasteaggregate interface with NS and SF
added is presented in Fig. 3. Fig. 3(a) shows that, for sam-
ple CO, hexagonal plates of CH crystals occurred with
their c-axes perpendicular to the glass surface. Edges of
hexagonal plates were clear and the size of the biggest crys-
tal CH was up to 10 lm in the SEM micrograph.
CH micrographs at the interface of sample A3 are
shown in Fig. 3(b). It can be seen that the big CH plates
occurred with their c-axes also normal to the glass surface.
But edges of hexagonal plates with eroded phenomenon
were unclear, and the size of the biggest crystal CH was
up to 4 lm in the SEM micrographs.
Fig. 3. SEM micrographs of Ca(OH)2 crystals at the interface between aggregate and paste made from cement and nano-SiO2 at 28 days: (a) without NS;
(b) with 3% NS; (c) with 3% SF.
543
As shown in Fig. 3(c), for sample B3, CH plates also oc-
curred with their c-axes perpendicular to the glass surface.
Edges of hexagonal plates were clear similarly to sample
CO and the size of the biggest crystal CH reached 7 lm.
The results show that NS can reduce the size of CH crys-
tals at the interface more eectively than SF.
4. Discussion
It is common knowledge that SF has a high pozzolanic
activity and is normally considered as the best mineral
addition used for concrete up to now. When SF is added
to cement or concrete, it acts both as a chemical inert ller,
improving the physical structure and providing nucleation
sites for hydration products, and as a pozzolan, reacting
chemically with CH formed during hydration of cement,
which will probably improve the pasteaggregate bond
[15,16]. However, the pozzolanic activity of SF at early
ages is low according to the aforementioned literature
544 Q. Ye et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 539545
[811,16]. It is reported that the pozzolanic reaction be-
tween SF and CH formed during cement hydration begins
to occur after 3 days of hydration.
With ultrane particle size reducing to nano-structured
one, such as SF particle size to that of NS, specic surface
and the number of atoms in the surface increase rapidly.
Owing to atoms in surface of nano-meter particles not
being full of other coordinate atoms, there exit a lot of
free bonds and unsaturated bonds or residual valence
forces in the surface which lead the particles to be unstable
state of thermodynamics. On the other hand, with the par-
ticle size reducing, there exit many uneven atom steps
which increase chemical reaction area [17]. For this rea-
son, the nano-meter particles, such as NS, have high sur-
face energy; and atoms in the surface have a high activity,
which leads the atoms to react on outer ones easily. Con-
sequently, the pozzolanic activity of NS at early ages is
higher than that of SF.
The mechanisms that addition of NS has dierent ef-
fects on the properties of the cement paste, as compared
with addition of SF, can be illustrated as follows. When
a material with high specic surface is added to cement
or concrete, it acts as the micro-ller of the cement parti-
cles, which can reduce the amount of water that lled in
the void of the blending materials. However, replacing ce-
ment with a high specic surface material would increase
the wettable surface area and the amount of water ad-
sorbed. Thus, the nal water requirement will depend on
which of the two above-mentioned factors will be supe-
rior. With replacement of less than 5% in this paper, the
former factor may be superior for SF. But the later factor
may be superior for NS, due to the very high specic sur-
face area of the nano-meter sized particles, which would
increase greatly the wettable surface area and the amount
of water adsorbed. Thus addition of NS can make cement
paste thicker.
Because the specic surface of NS with 160 m2/g is much
greater than that of SF with 21.5 m2/g, the reaction be-
tween SiO2 and Ca(OH)2 shows dierences between the ce-
ment paste incorporating NS and that incorporating SF.
For NS having many unsaturated bonds SiO and
Si in the surface, the reaction process between SiO2
and Ca(OH)2 may be as follows:
BSiO HOH ! BSiOH react quickly 1
BSi OH ! BSiOH react quickly 2
BSiOH CaOH2 ! CSH 3 The authors wish to thank the Center of Science Re-
For SF having many saturated bonds SiOSi and a
little unsaturated bonds in the surface, the process may
be as follows:
BSiOSiB HOH ! BSiOH react slowly 4
BSiOH CaOH2 ! CSH 5
In the cementwater system, the bond SiO of SF is not
easy to break down owing to its higher bond energy. The
rst step reaction (Eq. 4) for SF is slower than that (Eq.
1) for NS [17]. So, NS can accelerate the cement setting
process and the hydration process.
It is the surface eects of nano-structured particles that
cause the superiorities of cement paste incorporating NS to
that incorporating SF. For this reason, NS can provide
much more nucleation sites for hydration products than
SF at early ages, and NS has a higher pozzolanic activity
than SF. Therefore, incorporating NS can increase com-
pressive strengths of hcp and bond strengths of paste
aggregate interface, especially at early ages, and can
improve the interface structure more eectively than incor-
porating SF. So, using a small amount of NS can enhance
the durability and the mechanical properties of cement-
based materials.
5. Conclusions
The following conclusions may be drawn from the ob-
tained experimental data:
(1) Both nano-SiO2 and silica fume are in the amorphous
state.
(2) The inuence of nano-SiO2 and silica fume on consis-
tency and setting time are dierent. Nano-SiO2 makes
cement paste thicker and accelerates the cement
hydration process.
(3) Compressive strengths of hcp increase with increasing
the nano-SiO2 content, especially at early ages. How-
ever the strengths of hcp decrease slightly with
increasing the silica fume content at early ages, but
increase at later ages.
(4) Bond strengths of pasteaggregate interface incorpo-
rating NS are higher than those of control sample
CO and than those incorporating SF. With increasing
the NS content, the rate of bond strength increase is
more than that of their compressive strength increase.
(5) The pozzolanic activity of nano-SiO2 is much greater
than that of silica fume. Nano-SiO2 consumes CH
crystals, decreases the orientation of CH crystals,
reduces the size of CH crystals at the interface and
improves the interface structure more eectively than
silica fume.
Acknowledgements
search, Zhejiang University of Technology of China for
nancial support.
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